Big D has a preview of the Royal Rumble, which is probably my favorite WWE show of the year, just because I love the booking of the actual Rumble match itself.

I was actually at the 2005 show live in Fresno which is memorable for what looked like a botched ending where Cena and Batista kept going over the top at the same time, except they didn’t really time it properly. It might even be more memorable for Vince McMahon tearing both of his quads while trying to get into the ring.

Last year’s show was pretty bland until the great finish where John Cena made a surprise entry into the match after everyone figured he wasn’t even near ready to be back from injury. Big D posted about it yesterday.

The show doesn’t look terrific on paper, but there are always a few surprises and one of my favorite things is to see who they allow to be in for long extended periods of time. My hope is that John Morrison gets to work a long portion of the match, maybe even being in there for the final four.

Most folks think that Randy Orton will win the match, but I think it’s Triple H’s turn. But I’ll leave the rest of the prognosticating to Big D.

By Big D

The 2009 Royal Rumble is a tough one to pick, but it is WWE’s second biggest event of the year. All roads to Wrestlemania 25 in Houston begin here.

ECW Title: Jack Swagger (c) vs Matt Hardy – I could see this being the opener and having Hardy go over to get the crowd hot early. However, I don’t think they would want to cut the legs up from under Swagger just 2 weeks after he won the title. My pick is Jack Swagger to retain, perhaps via controversial means, so that they can do a rematch on Tuesday.

Women’s Title: Beth Phoenix vs. Melina – This match will definitely go on second. I think that Beth needs to continue her momentum, but I can definitely see this feud continue for a couple more months. The obvious prediction is that Beth wins thanks to interference by Rosa Mendez, or she does a run-in, causing Melina to win via DQ. Either way, I expect Rosa to get involved one way or another.

WWE Title: Jeff Hardy vs. Edge – I don’t want to spoil anything because we have full spoilers up on AngryMarks as to where this angle was headed a month ago. I know Vince McMahon is known to change his mind about things often, but I still see Edge winning the title back thanks to some… outside help. Heh heh.

World Heavyweight Title: John Cena vs. JBL (w/ Shawn Michaels) – JBL won the last portion of this feud back in July at the Great American Bash. The storyline with JBL and HBK will probably continue, but most likely not for much longer. I expect WWE to swerve us and to have Shawn Michaels superkick JBL right into an F-U… ahem… “Throwback” (lame). Cena retains the title. Crowd pops. JBL now can feud with Shawn heading into the spring.

30-Man Royal Rumble – So many variables here. All of the midcard and top talent in the WWE will be involved. Main eventers and former champions galore, and I also expect a handful of surprise entrants. Last year we got Piper and Snuka. This year I suspect Umaga will make his return in the Rumble match. I even have a strange feeling that Dave Batista will do what Cena did last year and return as #30 to win it all. I think WWE might be exaggerating his injury in an attempt to swerve us yet again. However, my pick will be Young Randall Kenneth Orton to win for three big reasons.

1) He is the guy who is being positioned to face Cena at Mania
2) Rev Theory will be playing his theme song “Voices” Live on Monday Night RAW the night after, and why would they play for a loser? (Editor’s note – This is probably not going to happen after all according to WWE.)
3) He’s fresh off the uber-hot angle with Vince McMahon on Monday.

I honestly don’t want to see Cena/Orton YET AGAIN as the main event of Mania, but hell, that’s all I can think of. I think they will have to do something DRASTIC to build heat for it because just a couple years ago, Orton kicked Cena’s dad in the head and laid him out. What could Cena be MORE upset about? God only knows…

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